Cooler Master QuickFire Rapid & QuickFire Pro Review

QuickFire Rapid Impressions

Please note that there are FOUR versions of the QuickFire Rapid. The one reviewed here today is the one using Cherry Blue switches. The versions are as follows. Be sure to pay attention to the product numbers before making a purchasing decision.

The QuickFire Rapid has been created to fulfill the perceived needs of consumers in the market for an ultra portable, ultra durable keyboard. While this silver and black device may be surprisingly heavy, its rather miniscule footprint allows the QuickFire to pull off its goals. More importantly, even though the Rapid may be small in stature it still is a full-sized keyboard which doesn’t feel all that cramped. As with the other Storm keyboards, the QuickFire Rapid also makes use of Cherry MX switches which are rated for 50 million activations.

In order to squeeze a full-sized QWERTY keyboard into such a small space, Cooler Master opted to remove every key associated with tertiary features like multi-media shortcuts and macro functionality. The number pad has also gone under the executioner’s axe but luckily, gamers don’t typically use these keys while in-game. In keeping with the Rapid’s extremely minimalist design and entry level price, Cooler Master naturally see the need for additional USB ports, a wrist rest or even backlighting.

For a gaming keyboard which prizes portability above all else, most of these missing features won’t be missed but the lack of key remapping and macro execution do significantly handicap it in games.

The other rather controversial design feature which further handicaps the QuickFire Rapid’s gaming abilities is the type of Cherry MX switches Cooler Master has opted to use. Instead of gaming orientated Black or even the jack of all trade Browns, the QuickFire Rapid uses Cherry MX Blue switches. Due to their loud clicking noise and the fact that each key’s release point is much higher than the point of actuation, these switches are considered to be suited for typing rather than gaming. Trying to key float with Blues is extremely difficult which in turn makes double tapping slower than other types of Cherry MX switches. The loud clicking sound –which cannot be overcome via proper key actuation like it can with Browns – should be considered less than optimal for gaming and can be very annoying to people around you while the QuickFire Rapid is used.

The inclusion of Cherry Blue switches would lead one to believe that typing and more general purpose scenarios are what the QuickFire Rapid was designed for. This is only partially correct. While this small keyboard does indeed typist oriented switches, the lack of dedicated multimedia keys and missing number pad will quickly become a nuisance to some. The keys themselves are also very similar in size (small), shape (narrow) and design (deeply concave) to the Storm Trigger key caps. The end result of all these design “features” is somewhat hard to recommend unless you absolutely need the smallest keyboard possible or don’t have space to spare within your LAN party kit. Unfortunately, the Rapid is neither optimal for gaming nor typing and fares rather poorly at both.

Netgear's R7000 Nighthawk router may be one of the most talked about wireless AC devices around since it's one of the most affordable. Pair it up with the EX6200 range extender and you have a potent ...